Lucy's got her head on!

IdahoDoug · 11-18-05, 11:17 PM

Well, it took me about 12 hours to reassemble including adding the block heater and heat wrapping the vulnerable section of wiring near the EGR valve. Got done 10 minutes before leaving for the airport, so I took the freshly finished truck and promptly drove out of state - 50 miles or so. Ran great. Kept an eye on the temp and oil pressure gauges.

I let it warm up in the garage, then changed the oil to some crap NAPA oil to get the waterlogged Mobil 1 out (300 miles - boo hoo...) then took off for the airport. Sunday I'll flush the cooling system and refill with Toyota Red.

The little trick with the hood hinges worked perfectly and the hood went back on in 10 minutes as opposed to last time's hour fiasco.

I could literally feel the greater compression. You have to use a wrench on the main pulley bolt to turn the engine back and forth a bit. Last time I did this it had just completed a compression test with flying colors and I could turn the engine by hand with moderate effort. This time, I had to really reef and could easily feel when I was on a compression stroke. They also reseated the valves, so they're holding more pressure earlier in the stroke and it felt like a double whammy to me and Mr. Wrench. Had to put a glove on to apply enough pressure.

DougM

alaskacruiser · 11-18-05, 11:28 PM

Congrats, Doug! Glad to hear you're back in business! And just in time for Thanksgiving next week. BTW how are you planning to completely clean out that cider?

topend yobbo · 11-18-05, 11:47 PM

good on you mate

TX_TLC · 11-19-05, 01:11 AM

So can you feel that .010 ??

Congrats!! Amazing...just amazing...

mot · 11-19-05, 02:44 AM

Nice job Doug!

Hope you are done working on the rig for a while.

Mot

scottm · 11-19-05, 05:07 AM

Outstanding, great job bro! Now it's ready for a few thousand miles this holiday season? I tip an eggnog in your direction for your accomlishment.

TiredIronGRB · 11-19-05, 04:04 PM

Glad you have her going, it's bad to be 80less.

e9999 · 11-19-05, 04:45 PM

Congrats!

Lucy? She has a name now? You been spendin' too much intimate time with the ole gal, eh?

IdahoDoug · 11-19-05, 05:04 PM

Dunno if I can feel the difference yet. Last night I was a *bit* nervous about literally starting it, adjusting the timing while it warmed the watery Mobil 1, then shutting it down and draining while I dashed through the shower - then driving off. So, I didn't even goose it once - just wanted a successful pickup at the airport and was thinking nice and even steady heating would be good to get the head gasket to adhere well. I may be the only person besides a Toyota engineer to see what a head gasket does after about 10 hours of operation and it had begun to adhere in most spots but was not done. There's a clear coating on both sides of the gasket that has the consistency of that plastic film you find on electronic screens when you buy them and I think it's supposed to kind of melt and bond with the metal. When I pulled the almost new gasket off, about 30% of it had bonded to the block, almost none to the head (cooler, likely). So, based on that data point I think the best thing for a fresh head gasket would be a steady long drive to end up with uniform bonding and such.

I also retorqued the head the morning after installing it, prior to beginning reassembly. I found one that moved at 95 and one that moved at 100 and brought them both to 105 which is where most of them moved. Dunno how scientific that was, but I felt that whatever torque the higher bolts were at was probably the intended one, so I brought them all up to it. And after sitting overnight, I felt the clamping force would bring out any variances in gasket thickness, etc.

It didn't use any water on the 100 mile round trip. Good sign. The only injury and broken bolt happened THIS morning of all things. I noted a faint leak from the metal gasket on the heater pipe where it connects to the thermo housing. Had a spare. So I loosened the two spots where it's secured to the block and one of the bracket bolts siezed on the way out and snapped off. Then I released the 2 flange bolts where the gasket goes and put the new gasket in. Buttoned it up, went to move the piece of wood I've been using atop the engine and got a nice inch long splinter for my trouble. The pipe is well secured without that bolt, which I'll easy out in the spring, and the splinter came out and got me some excellent sympathy. So really a wash.

As for the cider in the other 80, we're split as a family. The kids like the smell of fresh apples. I can only think of one way to get it out of the carpeting, which is to repeatedly rewet the carpet without saturating the pad, then wipe it dry. Both right side doors open with the sound of tearing paper as the rocker seals are gummy. I have a glass of it next to the keyboard right now.

PS - always been Lucy since we got her in January. Keeps Bessie company.......

DougM

cruiser larry · 11-19-05, 05:06 PM

Good job gld you have her back together.I will be glad when I get mine back.

e9999 · 11-19-05, 05:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IdahoDoug

snip

PS - always been Lucy since we got her in January. Keeps Bessie company.......

DougM

not too likely you're gonna get a litter then eh... too bad! I'm still hoping...

IdahoDoug · 11-19-05, 05:18 PM

Ships, planes, automobiles and any mechanical conveyance are always female......

DougM

Rich · 11-19-05, 06:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IdahoDoug

...As for the cider...I can only think of one way to get it out of the carpeting, which is to repeatedly rewet the carpet without saturating the pad, then wipe it dry. Both right side doors open with the sound of tearing paper as the rocker seals are gummy. I have a glass of it next to the keyboard right now

I would remove the carpet from the vehicle and have the carpet guy steam clean it. Don't know what would be best for the headliner.

gbell210 · 11-19-05, 07:49 PM

I would search.. but the feature isn't there at the moment. What is the little trick you used for the hood hinges? Did I miss that in this on going saga?

Hopefully everything has finally settled, and thanks for keeping us all updated
BTW.. I named my Red 89 turbo Supra Lucy too

Gotta love the red heads

IdahoDoug · 11-19-05, 09:03 PM

Rich,

Got lucky and the headliner only got a couple drops on it during the carnage that didn't even sink in. I blotted them off right away as I knew this was the high value surface... Door panels, side glass, carpet and right half of the windshield took the hit and I had the good luck to have a full size bath towel in arms reach that I tossed onto the dashboard before it ran down into vents.

The hood trick avoided having to refit the hood to the hinge, as they don't bolt onto holes, but use slots for factory adjustment. It was a nightmare, so I put masking tape on both the hinge and as close as possible on two sides. Then, I drew continuous lines across the gaps to use later in realigning it. Worked beautifully as we just lined up the lines and tightened it up for a test closing and ended up dead on the first time.

DougM